So Many Campgrounds So Little Time

 River View RV Park and Resort in Vidalia  LA 

  

We started this journey on July 22, 2013 and because of my procrastination and fear of "THE BLOG" I am three months into the trip and quite far behind on my post. We have had so many wonderful experiences and seen so many beautiful sights I will have to try to limit my words to catch up to our current location. In keeping with the old adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words" I will post more photographs to speed us along the path of our journey.

Unusual Camper at River View

This was our first stop in LA across the river from Natchez MS.
 Some points we remember about our stay.

1. The campground was beautiful.
2. We got a kick out of the boat parked behind us.
3. The Mississippi River was beautiful at sunset with the tug boats and the barges quietly doing their work.
4. We had out best meal at Roux 61 a Seafood Restaurant in Natchez 
5. Our worst dining experience was at Ruby Tuesday's. (One of our favorite places to eat in our home town.) Unfortunately the service at the Natchez restaurant was terrible and the food was worse. 

Natchez State Park

Natchez State Park

Memories of our five day stay:

1. There was only electric hook ups so we had to shower in the public showers. They were reasonably clean.
2. The campground began to fill up for the weekend fishing tournament.
3. We met a young man riding a bicycle with a snake wrapped around the handle bars. He said he found it. 
4. The campers next to us were a group of men. A father and his two grown sons and a friend who happened to be a chef from Biloxi MS. They were enjoying a fish fry with the chef doing the cooking. We were invited to join them. 
5. Before the night was over the couple next door who were camping in a tent joined us. They were from France touring the U.S. for three months. The lady spoke broken English and the man could not speak English at all.It was very interesting trying to carry on a conversation with our different dialects and their limited English. Interestingly enough we communicated well enough to enjoy each others company and learn about each other.

Snake becomes boys best friend

6. Paul, Gizmo and I walked the trail through the woods and discovered a few animal tracks, an unusual plant and a lake. 
7. Some campers left a child's bicycle behind. I hope they lived close by and could come back to get it.
This is a place I would recommend visiting, especially if you are a fisherman.

 

                         Goshen Springs Campground, Brandon MS

1. One of the best kept campgrounds I have seen. 

2. Many of the campers were actually residents

3. The campground was very quiet and the residents were not as friendly as we usually see in campgrounds.

3. We enjoyed the pool and met a very nice resident while we were swimming.

4. We were able to wash clothes and swim in the pool between was and dry cycles.

5. First we couldn't stay outside because of mosquitoes, then we couldn't stay outside because of the 

    mosquito spray
6. I found a strange object in the water. Asked several people what it was. No one knew. Someone said it was frog eggs but I have never seen any frog eggs like it and I could not find it on the internet. If you recognize this thing, please leave a note and let me know what it is. It is about the size of a baseball and has what appears to be a mouth on the other side. It was found in fresh water.

Natchez Trace Parkway

The GPS direction from Milton FL to Natchez MS is basically, "straight ahead on I 10" which is a similar direction received when my brother-in-law, Lloyd is navigating to New Orleans. The trip on I 10 is usually pretty boring and uneventful. Our destination was River View RV Park and Resort in Vidalia  LA which is across the Mississippi River from Natchez MS. Here is a little hint for you, any time you see the word "resort" attached to RV Park it usually means a couple of things. First the sites are going to be lined up one right after the other so that you can almost shake hands with your neighbor without getting out of your rig. Second, the price is probably going to get your attention. Another hint for the "old folks" reading this. Pay $10.00 to get a "Golden Age" pass when you are 62 or older. That gives you free entrance into all Federal Parks and 1/2 price camping fee in Federal and Corp of Engineer  campgrounds. The Golden Age Pass is good for life so it is $10.00 well worth spending. We opted for the RV Park and Resort because we wanted to have electric hook ups. It was hot and we wanted to make sure we could use the air conditioner when we were sleeping. We didn't plan on staying more than three nights. Many State and Federal parks don't have electric hook ups. July in Mississippi is definitely the time to use that air conditioner when you have it.We ended up joining Passport America to get the half price discount which actually paid for the price of the membership.  We paid $ 67.00 for three nights
Now we can use the Passport America in areas where we can't get Federal, State or Corp of Engineer parks.This campground boast of having a swimming pool and laundry room. Since the campground had full hookups,meaning we had water, electric and septic hookups,we were able to shower in our own private little shower in the coach.That is always a bonus compared to taking showers in public shower rooms in the campground. (Not always a pleasant experience.)

Our main mission at this point of the trip is to drive the Natchez Trace all the way to Nashville TN, 444 miles away. We have been to Natchez before, so we have already toured the Antebellum homes and have seen a plantation (very interesting by the way).The one thing we couldn't do that I would really like to see is the Great Mississippi Balloon Race. We were just in the right place at the wrong time. Maybe another time.  

We decided that we would leave our rig parked in the campground and drive the little HHR (affectionately known as a "Hillbilly Hot Rod") up and down "The Trace" to see if we really wanted to drive our 35 foot RV on a two lane highway for 444 miles. We had been told by my brother, Larry, that it was a boring drive. 

A description of The Natchez Trace as told by Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, is as follows: The Natchez Trace, also known as the "Old Natchez Trace", is a historical path that extends roughly 440 miles (710 km) from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi rivers. It was created and used for centuries by Native Americans, and was later used by early European and American explorers, traders and emigrants in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today, the trail is commemorated by the 444-mile (715 km) Natchez Trace Parkway, which follows the approximate path of the Trace,^[1] as well as the related Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail. Parts of the original trail are still accessible and some segments have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

So we took a couple of day trips up The Trace and took the opportunity to get out of the car and learn a little of the history of the area. First,we stopped at Mount Locust, at milepost 15.5, it is the only remaining inn, or "stand" on the Parkway. We met one of the rangers who was there to share information on the historic structure. Instead of sharing information on the structure he invited us to be "host" at that location. Paul happened to have on his Shenandoah Volunteer shirt which led to the volunteer conversation. He showed us where the camper would be located. One of us would give the tours of the Inn and the other would man the book store. We declined the invitation because it just wasn't our type of volunteer service. We let anyone who is interested in volunteering know that there is a great opportunity to enjoy some beautiful scenery and do a service for our Federal Park. 
We also stopped at, The Sunken Trace at milepost 41.5.  We are told that it is one of the most photographed sites along the parkway. The National Park Service tells us that "the trace appears sunken in this spot due to thousands of travelers walking on the easily eroded loess soil." This short trail  gave us the chance to walk on the Natchez Trace just as thousands have before us." Paul and Gizmo were happy to pose at this fork in the Sunken Trace. 

The Sunken Trace

We stopped at milepost 54.8 and walked through the abandoned town of Rocky Springs.The spring no longer flows, in fact the only things left is the church and cemetery, two rusting safes and several abandoned cisterns. The Civil War, yellow fever, the Boll Weevil and poor land management brought an end to Rocky Springs. We walked along the short trail and read about the history of the community. When we reached the church, Gizzy went up the steps and pushed the door open. So we took that as an invitation to enter. It is a beautiful church inside and out. It is well taken care of and apparently in use by someone. 

 Gizmo was given the opportunity to take the pulpit and tell us about the error of our ways. He seems to think we don't feed him enough and that we should spoil him a little more. He seems to be telling us that we are on the road to Hell if we don't listen to him and change our ways. Yea right! OK Gizzy get down from there and get back outside before you get into trouble for being in the church.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

The church was very nice on the inside and appeared to  have someone taking care of it. It was built in 1837 by the Methodist congregation of Rocky Springs. Before the church was built the town had a circuit-riding preacher who only stopped by once or twice a month. The former congregation members continue to hold regular services here and gather here for their annual "homecoming" each spring. I hope Gizzy didn't leave any dog hair on the pulpit.

We spent a lot of time in the cemetery taking pictures and reading the tombstones. Many of the tombstones were from the 1800's. Quite a few of the headstones were right next to the trunk of trees and some were far off into the woods that surround the cemetery. 


We were satisfied that the Natchez Trace was far from boring and quite an enjoyable drive even in a motor-home. On our exploration of the area we found the Natchez State Park Campground and decided to move our home base there. It is much more suitable to our idea of camping, had electric hook ups for our air conditioner and it was actually cheaper.We prefer to travel during the week so that we don't have to worry about campgrounds being full with the weekend campers trying to escape their daily grind.  Now we are ready to continue this adventure following "The Trace" to the end without fear of being bored. 

The Adventure Begins

Around the Next Bend on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Paul and I have shared our lives since 1966. Paul has always been the adventurous one. He wants to try anything that is new or unusual. If there is some new technological gadget or different mode of transportation he does the research, finds the best buy and convinces me that I will enjoy what ever he has found.Whether we are riding a dirt bike, walking the trails in the mountains, riding the Trikkes on the bike trail or paddling our Kayaks I am always the one who tires out or wants to give up first. When I start to complain and suggest that it is time to quit, he has the same answer. "OK, but first lets see what is around this next bend."  Like a loyal puppy, I follow along because my curiosity won't let me miss that mysterious adventure that lies beyond that next bend.  I finally realized that there is always another bend and always some new adventure for us to share. We have so many stories, and so many adventures to share about our lives and our family. We usually share those stories around a campfire with old and new friends that we meet along this road we travel. We are lucky to be a couple who share the same sense of wonder about the world around us. Our dream for our retirement years is to continue on this road exploring the new and unknown world around so many bends in the road. When we share this dream with our friends and family many of them show an interest in hearing about our trips. So we invite anyone who is interested in sharing our adventure or who may want to follow in our footsteps in the future to follow along and see what is around the next bend.

Here's the plan, We purchase a 35 ft. Class A Tiffin Motor Home called The Open Road. The label on the back says we are "Roughing it Smoothly" and indeed we are. We purchased this model because it is large enough to be comfortable yet small enough to fit in the more rustic campgrounds that we enjoy. Our first choice in camping is Federal, State or Corp of Engineer campgrounds. They are usually off the beaten path, in wooded areas and often near water. Our close companion and animal friend, Gizmo, travels with us so we will not stay at campgrounds who do not accept pets. Neither of us are really into the typical tourist areas. We are more interested in seeing what God has created for us to enjoy. We live in a beautiful country and we want to see and photograph as much as possible.

After getting medical issues for both of us out of the way we are now ready to begin this adventure. Our plans are sketchy at best but the idea is that we start in Mississippi and travel up to Tennessee, then head to Michigan and across Hwy US 2 until we reach Washington State, then down the California Coast and back home through the lower U.S. There are a few places that we would like to make a point of visiting . We consider Natchez Mississippi our starting point because we want to travel the entire 444 miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez MS to Nashville TN.

Leaving home was delayed for several reasons beyond our medical issues. One, the weather in all parts of the country that we wanted to visit. If it wasn't flooding it was burning up from fires or blowing away with tornadoes. Two, the weather at home was wet, wetter and even wetter! We planned to do some work in our yard, but the soggy ground delayed those plans as well. So a trip that was intended to start in June actually began on July 22, 2013.